The present invention relates to a motor protector suitable for protecting enclosed compressors of room air conditioners.
In room air conditioners of the separate type, an indoor unit is connected to an outdoor unit through a pipe. An incomplete piping sometimes causes a refrigerant such as fleon flowing through the pipe to leak out. An enclosed compressor is overheated owing to leakage of the refrigerant but the motor current is not increased over the level of no load current. Accordingly, motor protectors only responsive to the motor current cannot protect the compressor sufficiently.
In view of the above-described problem, the prior art has provided a hermetically sealed motor protector mounted in the compressor so that the temperature of the compressor is directly sensed, thereby preventing the compressor motor from being burned out owing to overheat of the compressor.
However, the prior art hermetically sealed motor protector needs a large mounting space, which increases the dimensions of the compressor. Consequently, the production cost of the compressor and hence the room air conditioner and the handling inconvenience are increased.